Algeria’s transition to …. uncertainty
The political turmoil that has engulfed since the head of the Intelligence and Security Department (DRS), General Mohamed Mediene, was dismissed in September, has no precedent in the recent history… Read more »
Category: Africa
Africa: Partnerships for Meaningful Elections
More than 15 African countries held national elections in 2015–including Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Tanzania–and a similar number is set to do so in 2016, notably the… Read more »
How Ethiopia silences independent voices
After a tense year marked by widely-criticized elections in which Ethiopia’s ruling party won 100 percent of parliamentary seats, 2015 concluded with yet more repression in the East African nation,… Read more »
‘Politics of fear’ threatens rights, prompts civil society ‘choke-out’
The politics of fear led to a global roll-back of human rights and a great civil society choke-out during 2015, according to the 659-page World Report 2016 from Human… Read more »
Uganda: when democracy doesn’t count?
Uganda, one of the West’s most important African military allies, will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on February 18, notes analyst Helen Epstein: Despite strong opposition, this election may be… Read more »
Democracy in an age of anxiety: freedom the first casualty of fear
The fearful era in which we live is not conducive to defending democratic standards or extending democracy’s reach, according to the latest edition of The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index…. Read more »
Zimbabwe court ruling hailed by activists
Zimbabwe‘s top court has outlawed marriage for anyone under the age of 18 in a ruling hailed by activists as major progress towards ending child marriage, Agence France Presse reports:… Read more »
Gabon-France spat could boost opposition
Gabon this week recalled its ambassador to Paris after France’s prime minister appeared to question the legitimacy of President Ali Bongo’s election in 2009, Reuters reports: The latest sign of… Read more »
Taking stock of Burkina Faso’s democracy
Last week, Burkina Faso seemed a bright spot in the troubled Sahel region of Africa. Little known and rarely discussed, the country found its way into international headlines after… Read more »
#Telema: DRC activists stand up to Kabila’s government
Speaking in a new documentary about the growing Telema youth movement and his imprisonment, activist Fred Bauma hopes that peaceful engagement in the democratic process will help spur change in… Read more »